The adult Montane Vole can measure from 5 1/2 to 7 1/2 inches long, from tip of nose to end of tail. Its back will be blackish brown or black, with a gray cast to the fur. Pale, buffy sides, a whitish belly and dusky-colored feet help it blend into dry grasslands. This rodent's ears are small enough to be hidden in its fur (Foresman 2012).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Measurement of the tail helps differentiate the Montane Vole from Meadow and Long-tailed Voles. The tail is less than 50% of body length (Foresman 2012) or about twice the size of the hind foot (Zeveloff and Collett 1988).

(Records associated with a range of dates are excluded from time charts)

Migration

Non-migratory.

Habitat

Usually dry grassland or sagebrush-grasslands. Will use wet meadows and marshes at high elevations when M. pennsylvanicus is absent (Hoffmann 1969, Pattie 1967).

Ecological Systems Associated with this Species

Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations

How Associations Were Made
We associated the use and habitat quality (high, medium, or low) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for
vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:

Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species’ range and habitat requirements;

Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point database associated with each ecological system;

Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of “observations versus availability of habitat”.

Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use.
In general, species were associated as using an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system.
However, species were not associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system, even if point observations were associated with that system.
High, medium, and low habitat quality was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species in the literature.
The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignments of habitat quality.
If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or (406) 444-3655.

Suggested Uses and Limitations
Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning.
These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at: http://mtnhp.org/requests/default.asp) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists.
Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales.
Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade.
Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections).
Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species’ known geographic range.

Maxell, B.A. 2000. Management of Montana’s amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species. Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1. Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana. 161 p.

In the Beartooths, in close association with M. richardsoni, used mostly forbs (Pattie 1967).

Ecology

Estimated 1.0 to 3.4/acre in the Beartooths, mean adjacent range length of 236 ft. (Pattie 1967). Population fluctuates. Can be an agricultural pest (Banfield 1974).

Reproductive Characteristics

Begins breeding in early June (Beartooths). Adults average 6.8 young/litter, subadults 5.0 young/litter. Some young females born in spring breed as subadults; some males sexually mature in August (Pattie 1967).

Hodgson, James R. 1970. Ecological distribution of Microtus montanus and Microtus pennsylvanicus in an area of geographic sympatry in southwestern Montana. M.S. Thesis, Montana State University, Bozeman.

Citation for data on this website:Montane Vole — Microtus montanus. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved on March 3, 2015, from http://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AMAFF11020